San Jose Airport will be first to use Facial Biometrics for all International Flights in the West Coast

If you fly to international locations or plan to fly international from the San Jose airport, get ready to wait less going through federal customs checkpoints. Earlier this month, Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport announced that it has agreed to become the first airport on the West Coast to launch facial recognition technology for all international flights in a partnership with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. Facial recognition uses a digital image or a video capture to verify or identify a person. In a release, the airport stated,

[This program will] both enhance security and expedite passengers through the inspection process at federal customs checkpoints, thereby reducing wait times for all arriving international travelers.

The program will be used for arriving and departing flights at San Jose airport and it will make San Jose airport one of two airports in the nation to agree to a complete deployment of the facial recognition technology for international flights. According to Jennifer Gabris, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the other airport that agreed to a complete deployment is Orlando International Airport in Florida, which began using it in June. There are other U.S. airports that are using facial recognition for international flights, but they only use the program for all arriving flights only. These airports are Atlanta, Houston, JFK New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Diego. The program will be implemented at San Jose airport for departing international travelers this fall.